


Across Winter Grove Street

by Kirby_Stilinski



Series: Septiplier Recycling Bin ㄟ(≧◇≦)ㄏ [15]
Category: Septiplier - Fandom, Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop & Tattoo Parlor, Child Abuse, Dark Past, Death, Flower Crowns, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Missing Persons, Must Read, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pastel Jack, Punk mark, Stalker, Tattoos
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-27
Updated: 2017-04-02
Packaged: 2018-09-12 16:29:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 7
Words: 16,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9080452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kirby_Stilinski/pseuds/Kirby_Stilinski
Summary: Jack thought he found a new start when he opened his flower shop.That is until a mysterious blue-haired man walks in to warn him about the tattoo parlor across the street.





	1. Fresh Starts

**Author's Note:**

> TO HELL WITH OVERLOADED STRESS AND PREOCCUPATION! LET'S WRITE ANOTHER FIC!!!

It was a Sunday morning when he moved into his new store. He had his car packed to the brim and was ready to start the fresh start he dearly needed.

-"What a great day." he said as he opened his trunk and began taking out boxes and boxes of flowers and seeds, pots and water jugs, food for later and decorations. Sean was determined to make this right.

He finally unpacked his entire car, taking him quite a while, when he decided he could make some new friends in the small little town. He locked the door and quickly went for a walk around downtown where he saw families walking with their kids or dogs out in the park, teenagers waiting in line for some new movie premier, and children excitedly chasing each other in a playground.

He saw a drug store that had a few pastries lined up against the shelved through the window, greeting Jack as he entered. 

A small bell rung announcing his presence as he walked in immediately smelling that of fresh sugary breads out of an oven.

-"Hey bro!" a sandy blonde called out from behind a counter. Jack kept his arm by his side and waved a little, awkwardly. "Nice flower crown you've got there."

-"Oh this? oh.. i-it's just.. mine.." he whispered, embarrassed by the compliment.

-"Haven't seen you around. You new?" The man asked. He seemed to have a European tint behind his voice. British? Swedish? Finnish?

-"Yeah. I just.. moved from Ireland." Jack stated.

-"Niice, niice. What you in for, bro?"

-"A fresh start. I got tired of trying to make my YouTube channel grow. I kinda just gave up on that and college, so I came here. Opening a flower shop down the street." 

-"Hmm. I've never really admired YouTube that much." The man replied. He stuck out his hand for Jack to shake. "Name's Felix, by the way."

Jack shook it and gave him a smile. 

-"Sean. Or Jack, I don't really care." 

-"Well then, Jackaboy, you deserve a freshly baked batch of cookies and bread to get you started in this shit town." Felix announced as he went behind the register and pushed open a door that presumably led to the kitchen. The Irishman waited there for a while before he had returned with a bad full of goods. Jack immediately reached for his wallet and he laughed. "No, no. It's on the house. Since you're new and all."

Jack graciously took the bag and left with Felix's number in case 'he ever needed a guide around'. He returned to his flower shop to notice that there was a tattoo parlor right across the street. It had a large neon 'Open' sign on the window with a list of hours during the week right underneath it. Jack had an ominous but exciting feeling about being right across a tattoo parlor. After all, it seemed like they were complete opposites. 

He laughed at the thought of this being some fan fiction and how he would fall in love with a dark, broody man and everything would end up just fine. Those things never came true, so why would it be for him?

* * *

It's been a month now since he's opened up the shop. He was happy about the life he's made for himself. 

So far, he's only had a few friends that came through Felix. He had multiple customers daily to keep him busy. Apparently they've never had a flower shop in town before so it was convenient for everybody rather than driving out an hour to a flower shop in a different town. 

-"I love your flower crown, mister." A little girl giggled as she and her mother were waiting to receive the flowers they ordered the day before.

-"Why thank you" Jack replied with a smile. The mother hastily took the flowers and paid before she lead her daughter out. Once outside, the woman bent over and scolded her daughter for something as they looked through the window to see Jack pretending to mind his own business before the mother walked away in a disgusted fashion, her daughter in hand with confusion.

It wasn't the first time he'd been bullied over his personality and looks, so it really didn't bother him all that much. He adjusted his flower crown as he successfully placed all the money in the correct slots in the cash register. He looked up to see a man with blue hair stare at him through the window. Jack felt slightly uneasy at the way he stared at him but he cleared his throat to mind his own business. He glanced up to see the man gone.

Later that night, Sean locked up the shop and turned off the lights. He began making his way to his car where he would sleep in the back, the backseats dropped down to lie flat. He was turning the corner when he saw a figured smoking in the alley. The brunette was slightly unaware that people smoked in this alley and he made his way toward his car, the smoker on the other side, not bothering to pay attention as he looked up at the small opening between buildings to gaze at the stars.

-"You drive home safe." the man suddenly said. Jack chuckled.

-"Nah, I... I sleep in my car." 

This caused the mysterious man to turn his attention unto him, making him feel like the shy girl on a stage with the spotlight blinding her.

-"How come?"

-"Can't afford a house. I used up all my money to get this place going." Jack replied, speaking about the flower shop.

-"Same." he replied as he chuckled and continued to drawl out from the cigarette in between his fingers. He blew out the smoke into the air and instead of in the alley.

-"Well, goodnight the--"

-"Come to my place. I can take the couch and you can sleep on a real mattress for once. How bout it?" The man suddenly interjected into Jack's farewell.

-"I-- uh. No thank you, I swear that I'm fine with my ca--"

-"Great." He said with a small smile as he flicked his cigarette and crushed it with his foot. Jack confusedly stared at him feeling there was something off as he followed him out of the alley and back on the sidewalk. He didn't bother looking both ways as he crossed the street, Sean being more careful and actually doing so.

They got on the steps to the shop across his own and then they entered. One second after the lights flickered, the brightly lit tattoo parlor had brought curiosity into the Irishman's eyes. 

-"Welcome to my shitty shop." He muttered as he tossed his keys on one of the tables and shredded off his jacket to reveal his muscular arms washed over with tattoos. 

-"It's nice. How long have you had it?" Jack asked, looking around at the posters with dark or classic designs. He saw a dried up red splatter on the ground and figured it was safe to not question it.

-"A few years." He said as he poured liquor into two cups and handed one to Jack.

-" Oh uhh... thanks." Jack mumbled as he took the glass, keeping it a safe distance from him nostrils.

-"How bout you?" He asked. Jack looked up from his cup and cleared his throat.

-"About a month or so." Jack replied. The man hummed in reply as he down his entire cup and winced during the swallowing process.

-"Mmm, that's the good bottle." He said to himself as he snickered and went to pour himself another one.

-"Are you sure... you should be drinking? Don't you have customers in the mornings?"

-"Well look who wants to be my mom." He said as he laughed before taking another sip. His hands were shaking slightly and he looked at Jack suspiciously. "Do you not like the taste or something? I can get you a new glass."

-"No no.. it's fine. Actually I, uh,  wouldn't know since I've never--"

-"Never what?" he asked, slightly forceful.

-"N-never drunk alcohol... before..." Jack replied slowly. The owner of the shop stared at him before he began to chuckle and then blow into full out laughter. Jack, uneasily, began to laugh as well. As the stranger man slowly died down, he looked at Jack before his face turned grim.

-"Oh you're not kidding." He said. Jack nodded his head and he scoffed. "Figured you were a little pussy."

-"What's that supposed to mean?" Jack asked, defensively.

-"All of my youngest customers always come to me with news about 'The sweet little flower shop guy'" the man said, mocking in a girly voice. "You and your queer ass flower crowns just top it off."

Jack slammed the glass down on a tray that was next to a seat. The liquid inside sloshing a little bit.

-"Excuse me if I like to wear something that isn't  _permanent_ for the rest of my life." Jack snapped.

-"Oh and what's  _that_ supposed to mean." The man replied as he straightened his posture and loomed over Jack's small, thin one.

-"It means that I get to express myself  _freely_ and not cover it up in some fucking doodles that burn into my skin."

-"Don't you dare call them doodles. Tattooing is a masterpiece that only brave people can do." the taller man warned, his voice dropping low to a cruel baritone one.

-"You think you scare me?" Jack inquired, even though he knew damn well he's never had this much bravery and confidence since he stood up to his parents before he left.

-"I know I do." He replied as his nostrils flared. He slammed Jack against the wall and he kept him trapped there. "In fact.. I know that if I tried hard enough I could break your little bones in your body and tear the skin off your flesh if you try to run away."

Now Jack was utterly terrified.

-"Y-you won't do it." Jack said, voice unsteady.

-"Oh yeah?" The man asked before he turned Jack around and pinned him against the wall again, twisting his arm behind his back like a bully in a school yard. "Fucking try me, kid."

He let go of Jack as he held his elbow in slight pain and stared at him as he backed away and picked up his glass, took it down, then resumed with his old one. 

-"I'm good sleeping in my car. Thanks." Jack snapped as he turned on his heels and walked out of the tattoo parlor. He forgot about the steps and he crumpled on them as he tripped over his own two feet. He was left a groaning mess as he held his wrist in throbbing surmounts of pain. He heard a chuckle from the top of the small steps and he closed his door behind him, shutting off the lights.

-"Asswipe." Jack muttered as he stood up, looked both ways, and crossed the street so he could sleep on the events that went on throughout the day. The tattoo parlor wasn't as mysterious and ominous as before, but replaced with a feeling of fear and darkness instead.


	2. Wolf's Bane

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A blue-haired fellow enters the shop to warn Jack about Mark, the owner of the tattoo parlor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> anotha chapter. Boom.  
> *drops book*

After the events of last week, Jack has been more attentive to his customers. He indeed notices many teenagers walking in, pretending to look at flowers or fun facts and such, some even had the courage to ask him a question or two that were either really stupid or good questions. After they'd leave, some actually wasting lunch money to order flowers to not seem as suspicious, would run across the street haphazardly and go into the tattoo parlor. Jack felt slightly cheated on for no good reason.

-"Hey, bro!" Felix greeted as he walked into the shop. He left another brown bag, probably filled with sweets again, on the counter and Jack sighed.

-"Felix, I told you that I don't need you to protect me like a mother hen so often. I'm doing just fi--"

-"Oh c'mon! I'll fight anybody to protect my children!" Felix jokingly replied. "How's the wrist?"

Speaking of, Jack had showed up to the drug store that next day and he immediately drove him to the clinic where they bandaged it and charged it on the house since Jack was fairly new.

-"It's fine. Healing." Jack added.

-"I can't believe that anybody in this town would want to mug you and your flower crowns." Felix said, disbelief in his face. Oh... and Sean had to lie to him since he knew that once they were off to the clinic, Felix would probably get the policemen in town to put the tattoo parlor guy under arrest or something, so he went with a classic 'it was too dark when I got mugged' story.

-"Yeah... But it was in the past. I hope it won't happen again." Jack replied. He was fixing up a bouquet for some guy who was probably going to propose, judging by the simplicity and romanticism of the ones he chose, when Felix stood up to his feet as the door opened, a small jingle announcing someone's presence. 

-"Heyy, nice to see you out in the sun every once in a while." Felix called out behind him. "Jack, I gotta go take care of some stuff. The wifey needs me."

-"Alright, later Felix!" Jack called back as he placed the vase inside the refrigerator to cool so that it's fresh when it's picked up. Jack straightened his flower crown and turned around to greet his customer when all he got in return was a wine bottle, a note, and a few purple hyacinths. Jack looked around and looked through the window to see someone in a black leather jacket was crossing the street and entering the tattoo shop. 

Sean looked at the wine bottle and put it back down, unsure of what to do with it. He looked at the note and read:

**_Before you throw this note away, I just want you to know that ~~i'm sorry for what happened last week~~ that I regret what I had done. I was drunk and I didn't realize it until the next morning when I woke up with a raging headache.  ~~What you saw was not the real me~~ I am really sorry about your wrist and i did a lot of research to find flowers that said sorry and I found this pop up often so... here you go._ **

**_~~i need to talk to you~~ If you want, i'd like to apologize in person especially and know your honest reaction to this note. Come by my shop after closing hours.   
_ **

**_~~sincerely from your neighbor~~  
_ **

**_From, Mark._ **

Jack set down the note to think on it for a minute. He looked at the flowers and let out a huff in amusement.

He chopped the ends like Mark failed to do and put them in a small vase, next to the register and binder. Jack resumed his work and tossed the note in the trash.

* * *

 He was an hour and a half away from closing up shop, he got several customers walk in one after another to order flowers. Jack was swamped with the six orders that came in that he was considering putting the closed sign on for the rest of the night. He turned on his little light in the backroom where he had all his seeds and plants stocked up that didn't need refrigeration, he was working on his second order when he heard the bell jingle once again. Jack groaned at the sound and quickly searched for the chrysanthemums and placed them next to the vase he had before he stood up and wiped his hands on his apron before walking out to greet his customer.

-"Hello, welcome to Septic Flowers, how may I help you?" He greeted with the little amount of enthusiasm he had left. 

There was a man, he looked to be around an early college student, in a long sleeve shirt with its sleeves cut off right past the elbow. He had striking blue hair that matched his blue eyes.

-"Is the owner of the shop here? I'd like to speak with him for a minute or two." He announced. Jack nodded his head. 

-"I am the owner of this shop. I'm the only one that works here." 

-"Right. Um, before I say anything else, my name's Ethan and i'm here to warn you." He said, looking at Sean with a serious expression. Sean burst into laughter.

-"What is this? The first five minutes to a DC TV Show? sorry, but you're going to have to spare me the talk and get to the part where I have superpowers." Jack snickered as he chuckled. The other guy's expression didn't change. "Oh god... am I a superhero now?"

-"Listen, i'm merely trying to watch out for you so that you don't make the same mistakes that I made." Ethan said. Jack raised an eyebrow at him.

-"Oh?" 

-"Look, just. do me a favor and stay away from Mark." he warned. Jack looked at him with confusion as he turned around and left the shop. He was so caught up in his words that Jack messed up on the position of the flowers twice and he just started over to ease his mind instead.

He finished three more orders after that, relieved that he was done and he figured he'd finish the last one in the morning. He placed many of the finished products in the refrigerator and watered all his plants before he grabbed his coat and was ready to head out when he saw a Wolf's Bane flower lying on top of the binder on the counter. Jack slowly picked it up and looked around, confused since he hadn't heard the bells jingle whenever anyone walked in. And he certainly didn't have any wolf's banes lying around in his shop. He picked it up gingerly and placed it in the vase of hyacinths. He locked up his store and remembered the note he received from Mark. Then he remembered the warning Ethan had given him.

Sean stared at the shop across the street and wondered what were the pros and cons of going. After standing there for a long time, he made a decision and left his shop, locking it behind him and walked away.

* * *

 

It was only five thirty in the morning, the sun breaking out early in the morning during the cold winter day that he realized he wasn't the one that walked him to his car.

After the events previous night in which Jack's curiosity beat him over his cautiousness that he went into the man's parlor. He remembers their conversation vividly.

-"You actually came." he said, slightly surprised by Jack's appearance outside the door. He nodded his head and the man greeted him in.

-"I'll be with you in a second.." he said as he walked toward a man who was sitting in a chair, scrolling through his phone mindlessly as the owner of the shop attended to him. 

Jack looked around the parlor to see that it looked similar to a barber shop. Chairs lined up in front of a large mirror that expanded nearly from one to end to the other on one wall. He had an entire wall opposite of the mirror filled with posters of tattoo options, not to mention the book that he spotted next to the seat with a customer. 

There was a small counter at the far end of the shop where there was a small table next to the counter, a photo frame that was broken was sitting on it along with a small vase of flowers, an unlit candle and a couple of folders. The walls had been painted Black with beautiful luxurious purple and white swirls. Jack marveled at the beauty of the room and looked out the large windows that surrounded the entire entrance wall. Sean remembers how his walls were simply the bottom half blue and top half green all around with a clock and a few flower decorations.

-"Alright, I'll see you later, Wade." he said as they walked to the door and the customer left, marveling at his arm. The owner of the shop walked past Jack, almost completely ignoring his presence as he began to clean up. 

Jack watched as he grabbed a small make-up bag and started placing all the small tools he had on a tray into it. He worked with a smooth, almost hypnotizing movement. He was spraying glass cleaner on the tray and chair and he wiped with ease. He heard him humming a song that seemed almost familiar through the tune and pacing of it. He searched his memory to try and remember. Maybe he heard it on the radio? Was it an old childhood lullaby?

-"I'm sorry if i'm taking a while." His deep voice broke the silence. Sean turned his gaze to him to see him smile.

-"N-no. You're fine." He said.

-"We can have our talk in a bit. Don't worry." He said.

Jack didn't understand why it felt like he was in primary school all over again and he was about to face a conversation with the principal, but he felt nervous altogether.

-"Would you like anything to drink? I have water... eggnog..." He asked, looking at Jack like he was fragile.

-"Well I know you have alcohol, that's for sure." Sean mumbled. His eyes widened like dinner plates at what just involuntarily came out of his mouth. "I-i didn't mean that. I'm sorry. It just came o--"

-"No worries.I deserved it." He said, giving him a shy smile with a shrug. He turned around and went behind the counter where he opened what could have been a mini-fridge and he dug around to find him a water bottle. "Here, catch." He said as he tossed Jack a bottle.

Jack blinked his eyes when he heard a knock on his window and he turned his head to see him right outside, smiling at him shyly like he usually did.

-"Oh! Hi!" Jack exclaimed. He opened the door, wrapping the blanket around his body to see a pair of keys dangling from his index finger.

-"I believe you left these at my shop?" He asked. Jack's eyes widened and he took them graciously.

-"Oh god. Thank you." Jack mumbled as he took them and looked at his warm hazel eyes staring back at him. He coughed and said a farewell before he walked away, not looking both ways as he crossed the street. He seemed reckless and mysterious. It was something that drew Jack to stay the rest of the previous night. 

Jack quickly got changed into the last pair of clean clothes he had and he cursed, reminding himself to ask Felix where a laundromat was. He locked his car behind him as he left the little alleyway and turned the corner to walk a few buildings later to get to his shop where he entered and quickly got to work on the last bouquet he didn't do yesterday.

As he worked, he made sure he got all the correct flowers before he left the small room and he went to check his binder to double-check he got all the requirements that the man asked for. Sean looked up, a small chill in his spine for no reason and noticed that Mark had a folder in his hand and was drinking a mug from his shop. He was staring right at him and when Jack looked closer to make sure, he broke his gaze and looked at the folder in one hand.

Sean returned to his work and he finished at around seven. He didn't have to open for another thirty minutes, so he grabbed his coat and his cap and left the shop. He was walking to Felix's drug store when he saw the blue haired guy, Ethan, walk into the store. Jack wondered why and he walked in a few minutes later.

-"-- I don't know. Marissa claimed she saw him crossing the street to go to that bastard's shop." Ethan hissed at a woman with flowing black hair that draped across one side of her face and her shoulder.

-"Well that doesn't mean much. What if he went over to kill him?" She asked. 

-"Nah. He doesn't have the guts." Ethan muttered as he turned his body to look around the shop. He spotted his eyes watching him and Sean looked back down, similar to the way Mark had.

-"Shh. He's here." Ethan whispered silently, but Jack still heard.

Jack kept his head ducked and tried to figure out if they were saying anything else when a girl coughed and he snapped his attention to her.

-"It's a little obvious that you're eavesdropping." She said, looking at Jack unimpressed.

-"How would you know?" Jack asked.

-"Well for one, unless you have a vagina I don't know about, there's no reason for you to be standing in front of the tampon shelves." She stated. Jack looked at the actual shelves and saw multiple brands of said tampons. "

-"What if I had a girlfriend and I was getting them for her?" Jack retorted, trying to prove her wrong. He didn't get why since she was just a teenager.

-"Oh please, but unless your girlfriend has Tupperware parties on Sundays and brunch on Wednesdays, I doubt you're in a relationship with that flower crown." She added. I stared at her dubiously. "And secondly, you're too busy having a conversation with me to realize that Mr.Blue Hair and acne has already clocked in for work."

Jack looked up from the section he was in and was indeed surprised to see Ethan was now gone and the jacket he was wearing was hung on a hook behind the counter of the drug store.

-"Who are you, anyways? Shouldn't ye be in school?" jack questioned.

-"I have a study period for First Hour, and my cousin is covering for me with the librarian so i'm welcome to enjoy an extra hour and ten in town." She said with a smile.

-"Well aren't you clever." Jack mumbled. The girl reached her hand in front of Jack and grabbed a box of tampons.

-"I'm also on my period." She said as she walked away with sass in her step as she payed for her products with the black-haired woman.

Jack awkwardly left the section and went up after the girl who winked at him as she turned away with her paid items.

-"Oh hey... uhh. jack, was it?" The woman asked. He nodded his head and the woman giggled. "Whew. I almost forgot you there. My name's Ashley. You can call me Ash." She replied happily.

-"Oh... um.. hi. Is, uhh, Felix in?" 

-"Yeah, I'll go get him for you." She said as she turned and flipped a divider as she entered a backspace behind the wall. "FELIX, YOU SWEDISH CUNT. YOU'RE NEWBIE IS HERE." 

Jack retained a laugh as he saw the Swede follow behind her, flour decorating his hair and apron.

-"Jack! morning, bro. You here for food?" He asked. Jack nodded and he went behind the divider again to go bring him a bag of sweets.

-"I miss being new. He gave me a job here and made me fat again." Ashley said before she distracted herself with the memory as she busied herself doing something else.

After a lengthy conversation with Felix about the drug store, Jack was ready to leave when he turned around and heard a shout behind him.

-"Wait, Jack!" Felix shouted.

The Irishman turned around to look at Felix with slight worry at the exclamation when he saw him walking with Ethan toward him at the entrance.

-"So... Ethan here needs a roommate to help pay rent and I know you're not doing much with all that money..." Felix added. He knew where this was going.

-"Would you like to be my roommate?" Ethan asked, hope in his blue eyes. Jack stared at both of them incredulously after the incident yesterday with Ethan.

-"I'll... think about it..." Jack replied before he turned to leave the shop, even after Felix tried calling him back.

Jack was confused about the sudden offer. He barely even knew Ethan. All he knew was his name and the fact that he worked for Felix.

Sean was reaching his shop right on time to open when he saw that the door was unlocked. He cautiously walked in, looking around to see if anything of his was stolen when he spotted another wolf's bane flower on his counter. He walked up to slowly and noticed that this one was white. Jack picked it up slowly and placed it in the vase where the other flower was along with the hyacinth and the purple wolf's bane. Jack looked around his shop to wonder who put it there. 

He had an uneasy feeling about what happened that morning for the rest of the day. His mind was constantly on the three recurring events: Ethan and Ash's conversation, Felix's offer, and the flowers that kept appearing. 

Going on with his day, he was able to hand out his six orders correctly and happily to his customers and even was able to finish another four he had gotten before closing time. Occasionally, he would see teenagers walking by and swooning or staring at him straight up. Jack didn't let it worry him all too much.

He was busy with arranging a few seed packets in designated boxes in the backroom when he heard the bells announcing somebody's presence and Jack had to set down the rest of the seeds on the floor as he walked around and saw Mark standing at the counter, looking at all the flowers hung on the walls in awe and curiosity.

-"Hey.." Jack greeted, surprised by his sudden arrival.

-"Hey." He said, voice deep as usual. He had his hands in his coat pockets and he stood relaxed and care-free.

-" What's up?" Jack asked, looking at him casually.

-"So since you being you with your flower crowns and shit.." He began, waving his hand to further prove it. "I remember from the night we met that you had not much money left to buy yourself a house. And I've been... saving up for an actual house as well and not have to sleep in my parlor. So what do you say to--"

-"Buying a house together and being roommates." Jack finished for him. He nodded his head and Jack's head started to hurt. "um.. why?"

Mark was now surprised by the reply.

-"Because... you need a house. I need a house. It'd be fun getting to know you." Mark said as if it were a simple math equation. Jack  breathed deeply before he tried to consider it.

-"I... i got an offer from a friend of mine, Felix, and he''s asking if i'd want to room with this guy named Ethan." Jack said, Mark's attention perked and his body tensed up, standing straight and aware rather than more relaxed.

-"Ethan what?" Mark asked. His voice was more gruff and I had to refocus my attention to him to notice.

-"uh.. I don't know. I don't know his last name. All I know is that he works at the drug store and he has this electric blue hair.." jack explained before Mark turned around and left the shop, pushing the door mush harder than he should have on his way out. Jack confusedly and shockingly stared at the spot Mark was just at before he left in a fit of rage. Sean was recovering and checked the time to see he should probably flip the sign to closed. 

He turned around to go place the seeds onto his counter, so he could remember to get them in order tomorrow and he walked over to the glass door to look through to see Mark's parlor. Even though his lights were off, Jack could still see him barely in the dark as he seemed to be punching and kicking the wall, then presumably throwing trays and supplies all around.

-"What the hell..." jack mumbled, confused about the man's anger. He finished his regular duties to close up shop and Jack crossed the street to go and figure out what was going on. 

Showing up at the front steps again, Jack knocked on the door to get no response. Jack tried the knob realize it opened easily and he stood at the opening door way in slight guilt

 _Should I even be here?_ Sean wondered. He took a few steps into the shop to stand corrected at how many of the things he had were all scattered across the tile floor. Sean carefully stepped over many of it, seeing some of the posters legitimately torn up and there was a very deep hole in the wall, blood seeming to be peppering it. 

-"mark?" Jack called out, he heard a whimper. He became concerned as he tried searching for him and eventually noticed the light sliding from the frame of the door far behind the counter. As Jack crept closer to it, he heard more whimpering and gasps. He reached for the doorknob, hesitating to find out what was on the other side.

When he finally opened it, he entered a large storage room that had a small couch tucked against the wall, right next to the door, a small mattress on the ground in the other corner with many cardboard boxes filling up the rest of the spaces. He saw Mark huddled on the mattress and he walked forward to comfort him.

-"Mark. Oh god.." Jack gasped as he saw Mark's bloody fist. He had multiple patches of skin very gruesomely missing and blooding seeping out. Nearly his entire hand was covered in blood and he was shaking violently. He turned his tear-struck face to see Jack and his eyes widened for a second before he stood up and watched Jack in fear.

-"g-get away from me.." He seethed. Jack stared at him like a deer caught in headlights. "I-i said to _g_ _et away from me!_ " he shouted before shoving Jack backwards and he fell on his back. He lifted his upper body and used his arms to lift him at an angle. Mark was now stalking towards him in anger and distraught fashion. Jack scooted backwards before the standing man reached over the closed the door before he could escape through it.

-"M-mark! I-it's me. Calm down.." Jack whimpered in fear.

-"N-no..." He growled.

-"What?" Jack whispered.

-" _NO! N-no! I will NOT let you hurt me again!_ " Mark shouted in a booming voice that made Jack shiver to his core. He was letting out small whimpers and pleas as Mark picked him up, his flower crown sliding off his head in the process. "Now it's  _my_ turn to play the abusive one." Mark added, his voice shaking slightly. He began to chuckle in a silly manner that made it seem almost insane. 

-"Mark.. what are ye--"

-"SHUT. UP!" Mark shouted before letting him go and holding up his arms, his hands cupping his ears. "SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP!  _SHUT. U-P!_ " 

-"Mark! Stop yelling! Y-you're scaring m--" Jack began to plea before he felt a sharp blow to the left side of his face. He was crashing into a few cardboard boxes and he held the side of his face. He lifted his head from the cardboard box slowly to see blood from his mouth staining it slightly. "M-mark.." he mumbled before he was picked up once more and was met with the once warm, hazel eyes with the now crazy, brown ones.

-"Shut. Up." He growled angrily before Jack felt himself getting thrown backwards and slamming into more cardboard boxes that toppled over and crashed down over him. 

The Irishman saw the corners of his eyesight darken slowly and his head throbbed insanely. The last thing he heard were the screams of a broken man that owned a shop across from his own on Winter Grove street.

**End of Pt. 1;  'Flower Crowns And Tattoos'**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Even if it isn't completely canon, we ALLL imagine Mark with a little xtra somethin' =D


	3. Root Beer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack wakes up, traumatized, and runs to the only person he thinks he can trust.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I deleted "From Nails To Skin" because it's so much easier for myself and everyone else to just read one fic and not like.. twenty. So unfortunately i'm sticking to only Jack's POV cause that makes life more interesting!

The room he was sitting in was almost pitch black if it weren't for the small light pouring out underneath the door. Jack was quivering at each little sound he heard. The sounds of his insane rambling and thrashings rang in Jack's head like bells in a church.

-"I'm okay. I'm okay. This is a dream. This is dream." Jack whispered to himself. But how could he be? He wasn't okay. None of this was okay. This wasn't  _normal_. 

He fell asleep minutes ago. His light snores echoing through the small, almost pitch black room. Sean knew the lights underneath the door came through the windows on the other side of the parlor, but he knew nonetheless that is was a form of light. He slowly stood from the pile of boxes that he was trapped underneath before he grabbed he flailed his hand around blindly before landing on the cold metal knob. Jack gave it a turn and booked it. He sprinted across, kicking across a few things and running into some chairs on accident before he reached the main entrance. He opened the glass door and tumbled down the stairs once more.

-"fok!" Jack cursed as he fell and landed on his back. He quickly got up, ignoring the pain burning in his wrist as he rain away. The night was slightly cold and he left his jacket inside the shop. No way in hell was he going back to get it.

Jack sprinted in a random direction and realized he was heading to Felix's drugstore. He was panicking and hoping to whichever God out there existed that someone was working late. Very late. 

Jack crossed the street wildly before he noticed that there was a dim light coming from inside.

-"HEY!" He shouted. "LET ME IN!" Jack shouted as he ran and threw himself at the door. His face was on the small window pane and he stared in like a maniac to find any sign of life inside the store.

-"G-go away! I'll call the cops!" A voice shouted beside the door. Jack tried to look around to barely see one leg at the very edge of his sight.

-"Please let me in..." Jack sobbed. He hit the door without force repeatedly before he slid against the door weakly in broken sobs.

Jack laid there with tears sliding across his pale face when he felt the door open and Ethan stared down at him in concern and shock.

-"Jack?!"

-"E-ethan you were right. Oh god you were r-right.." Jack sobbed.

-"Jack what happened to your face. oh my god! Come inside." He exclaimed as he dragged the Irishman in.

As he was letting himself get dragged behind the counter and into the kitchen where it was almost twice as beautiful than the actual store, Jack felt himself running out of tears and the pain in his back and wrist began to hurt more.

-"What happened?" Ethan asked as he worked diligently to get ice, rags, water, and a bucket. 

-"I-i don't know.." Jack gasped as he felt his head begin to add onto the pain. 

-"Was it another mugging? Damn... they must be new.." Ethan muttered.

-"N-no it was Mark." 

Ethan stopped in his tracks, he wasn't facing Sean, but he could sense the sudden danger in his next words:

-"Mark? What were you doing at Mark's?" 

-"I-i was worried cause he came to me t-to offer a place to live. W-with him as roomma--"

-"and then he did this?" Ethan grumbled in a dark tone as he continued his fast pace to return with all the supplies.

Jack nodded his head and Ethan huffed in response. His anger hadn't left his features as he gave Jack ice and tried to inspect his wounds. Jack could feel Ethan's hands shaking ever-so slightly as he traced the bruise that was probably taking up half of Jack's face. From what he could tell, it started from his left brow all the way to the edge of his mouth. Jack held one cloth-covered ice slate against his wrist before Ethan instructed him to hold another against his head. Ethan dipped rags in water before bringing it back up and pulling down the side of Jack's shirt below his shoulder, revealing his hand-mark bruise on his shoulder. Jack stared at it curiously as he placed the wet, cold rag on it. Jack sat there, multitasking as Ethan stared at the bucket in anger. 

-"I should have listened to ye.." Jack whispered.

-"Yeah. You should have." He snapped back. Jack stayed quiet, ashamed of his stupid self. Ethan stood up and left Jack's sight as he walked around in the large kitchen. Felix returned with two brown bottles and bottle cap opener.

-"really?" Jack questioned as Ethan sat down on the chair opposite from his.

-"Root Beer."

-"Root Beer?" Sean said, puzzled

-"Root Beer." he repeated without further explanation. He opened one and began chugging it. He finished it and placed the bottle underneath his seat. He opened the other and placed it against Jack's lips.

-"Uhh..."

-"Open your damn mouth." He demanded. Jack did as so and felt the carbonated beverage pour slowly in his mouth before it stopped, giving him time to swallow. It usually has a slight sizzle in his throat when he drinks, but this time it definitely burned from how raw his throat was from screaming. Jack drank the rest in small sips from Ethan before it was empty. 

-"Thanks.." Jack mumbled. 

They sat in an awkward silence before Ethan suddenly stood up and left again. This time, a door opened and closed. Jack sighed as he figured he probably went to punch a wall or something. He sat in silence for a while, taking in the sound of nothing but dead silence. It seemed almost peaceful... gentle even.

A door opened once more and Jack saw Ethan return. 

-"You're not sleeping in your car like this." Ethan stated. Jack looked at him before scoffing.

-"I have nowhere else to go. And I'm not sleeping in Felix's store."

-"I know. You're staying with me tonight." Ethan said as he took off the ice slates and placed them in the bucket, along with the rag. He helped Jack stand up and took the bucket in the other hand as they walked to an exit door on the far side of the unlit kitchen and opened the door to reveal a car heating up. He opened the door for Jack and let him in. 'I'll be back" he said before closing it and leaving Jack with a bucket of cold water and supplies in his lap.

Jack waited and decided to turn on the radio for some pop song to come out the old speakers. Jack hummed along weakly to the tune and closed his eyes, imagining the woman singing, in his idea, in what the music video would be like.

_What can I say, it's complicated._

_No matter what you say, no matter what you do._

_I only want to do bad things to you._

_I'd do things that you can't explain._

_What can I say, it's complicated._

A male started singing and Jack imagined him too. He imagined they'd be singing in some warehouse that would probably be filled with dancers or something and Jack smiled at the idea of it.

His music video was disrupted by the sound of the driver's seat door opening and Ethan got into the car. He looked at Jack with a fake smile and put the car in reverse. They left the small alleyway in which the car was in and they drove deeper into the small town to reach one of the few tall buildings. It was probably four stories tall and Ethan parked in a parking lot with a designated number on it. He helped Jack get out and they thankfully only walked one set of stairs to reach his apartment.

He flicked the light on and Jack stared into the large apartment in gratitude.

-"I'm sleeping on the couch. You get my bed. No arguments. go to bed." Ethan said as Jack walked in slowly and located the door that led to his bedroom. Jack laid down with all his clothes on and passed out immediately. He had his first nightmare about it right then.

* * *

 

Jack woke up in a pool of his own sweat as he screamed for mercy and fell off his bed. He gasped as he curled in on himself and began to sob.

-"Jack! jack, jack jack. C'mon. It was just a dream.. Shhh shh, it was just a dream.." Ethan insisted as he tried to get Jack to unhinge.

-"No! No! It was real. It was real this time!" Jack pleaded as he cried.

-"No Jack! Jack. C'mon, dude. He's not going to hurt you. It's me. I'm here.." Ethan said as he made Jack look at him. Their blue eyes met and Jack was slowly feeling himself calm down slightly.

He'd been having recurring nightmares night in, night out about Mark's attack. He couldn't stop. He was becoming paranoid.

-"I heard something outside earlier today.." Jack mumbled as Ethan returned from work one night.

-"Was it Mark?" Ethan asked, knowing what the answer would be.

-"No..." Jack mumbled. "But it could have been."

-"Jack... Mark's been at the parlor all day long. He doesn't even come to this side of town."

Jack was always paranoid ever since. And now he's on the floor with his roommate in tears like he usually had been for the past few months.

-"Ready for work?" Ethan asked later that morning as he prepared toast. Jack shrugged. He's been avoiding going back to work as much as he can since he knew he'll see him. He had his shop closed and called it 'taking a break'. He left a sign and everything. They left Jack's car there but they moved all his things to the apartment he shared with Ethan.

-"I guess it's better than being holed up here." Jack mumbled.

The two later drove to Felix's store in which Felix gave him a giant hug and a giant smile.

-"Excited for work today?" Felix asked. Jack grumbled as Ashley handed him a bag of treats.

-"Have fuuun!" She exclaimed.

-"Meet me here at around eight?" Ethan asked.

-"Yeah. I guess." Jack mumbled as he left the drug store and made his way down to his shop.

As he walked in the brisk early morning, he enjoyed the sunrise behind him as he walked slowly. He saw a few kids skateboarding away and a teenage girl sitting at the step of his shop. He walked closer and felt like she was familiar.

-"oh thank the heavens!" She exclaimed as Jack approached her curiously.

-"can I help you?" Jack questioned.

-"yeah, you've been like... missing." she said. Jack looked at her and pointed to the sign on the inside of the door.

-"That's because i've been on a break."

-"Great. Break's over. My parents have been on my ass since, like, forever and I need a job and I need money to buy food, hair dye, and tampons so." She said quickly before taking in a deep breath, "Can I get a job?"

Jack looked at her and felt like it was too much for him all in one morning.

-"C-can't you ask someone else?"

-"I asked Tall, Dark, And Emo across the street and he said no." She replied. Jack stared at her without amusement.

-"I can learn about flowers and shit and I'm good at arranging the pencils in a cup so... doesn't that, like, meet your qualifications?"

-"Basically. But why me?"

-"Dude, I have to get to school in, like, fifteen minutes. Will you hire me or not so I can go ask my brother's boss." She asked. Jack looked at her and immediately remembered her from one day at the drug store when he awkwardly stood in front of the tampons section."

-"Sure. Whatever. Come right after school and I can show you the basics." Jack said. The girl whooped in success and went sprinting past him shouting a "thank you" in her wake. Jack chuckled and entered his shop easily. 

Sean entered to see multiple bouquets and vases of purple hyacinths littering his counter and floor with multiple rewritten and scratched notes on each one. That's when he realized he didn't even use his keys to enter the shop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ayyye who's ready for sassy teen roasts next chapter?


	4. 'Jackaboy'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack's paranoia gets the best of him one day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back and tired! I need to update more often, tbh. But like school and life and eehhhhhh
> 
> Enjoy this confusing chapter.

 

Jack's breath was steady. He crouched behind the maze of boxes that were stacked neatly on top of one another.

-"Jackaboy~" Mark teased from afar. "Come out, come out, wherever you a~re".

 Jack's heart was beating like a rabbit's. He could see between two boxes parallel to one another the taller man stalking around the corner like a predator searching for its prey.

-"Jackaboy~"

-"St-stay away!" Jack shouted as he turned around to get farther away. 

Turning the corner, he ran into a sturdier object and found himself staring at a familiar leather jacket.

-"There you are." Mark muttered darkly as he grabbed Jack by his side's and flung him against a wall of boxes. The thinner man crashed into the boxes, toppling onto them as the wall was knocked down. "Aww c'mon, Sean. You know you can't run away from me." he taunted as he grabbed Jack's ankles and pulled him back from crawling away.

-"P-please... let me go!" Jack whimpered weakly as he tried clawing away.

-"Uh-uh-uh... what's the secret word?"

-"Fuck off!"

-"Incorrect!" Mark replied as he slammed his elbow on Jack's leg.

-"Let me fokin go!"

-"Incorrect again!"

Another jab. This time, Jack couldn't feel his left leg.

-"Please! Please let me go!"

-"You've been a bad boy, haven't you?" He shouted as he slammed his elbow into the other leg, immense pain spreading through Jack's body.

-"Let me go! Let me go! Please, I'm begging, please!" Jack screamed for mercy.

Mark drew out a machete out of thin air.

-"It's too late for that, Sean." He said as he broke into a psychotic laughter. Jack waited for the sound of cut flesh and broken bone when--

* * *

 

-"Jack? Jack! Jack, wake up!" Ethan pleaded as he shook him. 

-"Let go!" Jack shouted as he rose from his bed and slammed into Ethan's own head. The blue-haired man groaned in discomfort from the ground as he slowly rose again to see his roommate sobbing into his hands.

Ethan rubbed his forehead where Jack's head slammed into and he sat on the edge of the bed to wrap an arm around him for comfort.

-"Another nightmare?"

Jack nodded his head as he sobbed harder. Ethan patted his back i reassurance before he rose and walked out to prepare breakfast. Jack was left shaking from fear in his dampened bed sheets. Jack tried to lay his head to rest on the pillow, discovering that it was also damp from his cold sweat from the entire night. 

The Irishman lay there as he calmed down slowly before getting out of bed to confront another day ahead of him. Walking into the kitchen, Jack flinched at the sound of the toaster, announcing its duties have been done. 

-"Calm down, it's just a toaster, Jack."

-"S-sorry.." Jack mumbled as he sat on the small table with a cup of coffee already cooling off. He took a small sip to feel the ingredients burn its way down his throat and into his empty stomach.

-"So tonight I have to close up shop again, so would you rather go with Ashley to a movie or wait for me to close up?" Ethan asked as he spread butter on the heated bread.

-"Uhh i'll see. Either works for me." Jack replied as he clasped both hands around his coffee mug protectively. His index finger was tapping the side of the mug incessantly, his nail creating a small tick with each connection between limb and glass.

_Tink, tink, tink, tink, tink, tink, tink tink, tink, tink, tink, ti_

-"Jack?" Ethan insisted once more as he stared at him in concern across the small table. The green-haired man blinked twice before refocusing with Ethan.

-"Uh.. sorry, what?"

The other man sighed before repeating, "I asked how is that new girl doing at your shop?"

-"Oh.  _Oh_. Oh yeah, she's fine. It's fine. She has some project or something today so it'll be just me today."

-"You? All alone?" Ethan mocked with a smile s he drank from his coffee.

-"Yeah.. a-all alone.." Jack repeated as he stared down at his drink. Eyes searching for something. But for what? jack didn't know.

-"It'll be alright. I'll come by and eat some lunch with you, if that's alright?" Ethan asked.

-"yeah. It's perfect. fantastic.." Jack replied. He drank from his coffee to distract him from his thoughts. 

Ethan began to speak about what his day would behold at the bakery but Jack tuned him out as he stared at his cup. His finger clicking. It was a rhythm. Ethan's words and Jack's fingernail.

_Tink, tink, tink, tink, tink, tink, tink_

-"Jack, stop it." Ethan persisted.

-"Stop what?"

-"The clinking. It's annoying." Ethan replied.

Jack mumbled an apology as he downed the rest of the cold coffee.

* * *

As the bells jingled at the presence of someone walking in, Jack groaned at the idea as he had to stand up again and wipe his dirty hands on his apron before walking back out of his dusty closet to confront the customer. 

-"Hello, welcome to--"

-"I'm looking for a Jack McLoughlin?" An employee from a shipping service asked with a large box behind him. 

-"Uh.. that'd be me." Jack replied.

-"Ah, could you sign here please?" He asked as he handed Jack a clipboard and a pen. Jack anxiously did so and watched as the man left, getting into his truck outside and driving away.

Curiosity and endless possibilities filling his thoughts, Jack approached the large box in caution. jack grabbed a pair of garden sheaths from the counter and used them to tear open the tape enclosing the contents within the box. Jack slowly lifted the lids to reveal multiple Styrofoam swirls. Jack reached his hand in to feel another box and he pulled it out to see it was also taped. Jack tore that before revealing its contents.

A bundle of pens rolled onto the counter along with large rose heads. The rose heads were made entirely out of tape and were painted over Jack looked at the crafts from above and discovered that from above, his eyeball logo was painted on the petals. Jack chuckled. He grabbed the larger box to throw it out when he felt it was still heavy. He reached in once more to feel glass. Jack found out it was was actually a frame for a picture. He pulled it out and it revealed... a portrait. It was beautiful. 

It depicted Jack, his bright green hair taking the most attention from the painting, as he was bent over a vase of flowers on his counter. The colors had a messy, but almost perfect feel to them. Jack checked the corner to see a scribbled name at its location. Jack turned the frame around to see a note attached to it. He pulled it off and was stunned by its words.

_**I can't describe in words how sorry I am. Can this painting do it for me?** _

_**~Mark** _

Jack tore the letter to shreds and flung them weakly in the air. He watched them flutter uselessly down and Jack angrily tossed the beautiful painting onto the couch. He searched for paper and a pen to scribble a reply in return. 

Checking both sides of the street, Jack furiously made his way to the tattoo parlor with a mission. He had taken the piece of tape Mark's letter had come with and used it to tape his message right on Mark's glass door for him to see from inside the shop. He slammed his hand on the glass to get his attention where he had his back turned and Jack fled back to his shop. 

Sean stopped at the front of his shop to turn around and see the other's reaction upon reading the letter. Satisfied with his saddened face, Jack walked back into his shop with a clearer mind.

 ** _F U C K   Y O U_** , Jack had written.

* * *

 

_'Jaack! Hey, buddy!'_

-"Ashley, I'm busy." Jack replied as he tried keeping his phone between his chin and shoulder.

 _'I kinda can't take you to a movie because yesterday I, like, didn't have a date because it's, like, complicated and all. and yeah But, like, now I_ do _have a date and I heard that that one lego movie seemed legit, so like, yeaah...'_

-"It's fine." jack replied with a soft chuckle.

_'Are you sure? You can totally tag along if you want. I don't mind. At all. you're funny and I love how you're always quiet. I MEAN not, like, in a bad way. Like it's great that you never speak to me. OH MY GOD. I mean that, like, your quietness just adds to the... ugh you get what I mean, right?'_

-"Yes, Ashley. I get what you mean." jack replied as he tried to contain his laugh.

_'Perfect! But yeah, sorry bout it. I just... ugh he's a dick. I mean he's  great guy but he can be a dick. It's just-- UGH! Complicated. Sorry about it. Alrighty, I am annoying the shit out of you. See ya later, Jackaboy!'_

Jack stopped in his tracks and froze at the sound of the nickname.

-"What the hell did you just call me?" Jack snapped unintentionally.

_'I- uh.. Jackaboy? Sorry, did I trigger you? oh gosh, i'll never say it again Jack. arggh! I'm so dumb. sorry!'_

-"N-no it's fine. I uhh... I gotta go. Bye." Jack said in a hurry as he let the phone fall and clatter safely onto the ground. The call apparently ended a few seconds later and Jack let out a shaky breath before returning to his work. 

Jack kept himself busy before his phone rang once again,shattering him from his sea of thoughts and he accidentally sliced his finger with the shears. jack licked the blood and began searching frantically for the paper towels to cover it. Jack answered the phone in enough time.

-"Hello?"

There was no reply. Jack looked down at the Caller ID and find out it was an actual number.

Jack leaned back in.

-"Hell-o?"

There was a deep breath and Jack felt the hair rising from his arms in alarm.

-"Is anybody there?" Jack asked before they hung up. Jack was scared. He opened the door of the closet to see that it was dark outside already. Jack already flipped the sign and was starting to feel his paranoia rise.

He returned to his work before realizing he had a large cut on finger and he needed to take care of it before actually working. He searched a drawer and found a box of Band-Aids that he had to pry open before taking one out and placing it on his immensely large cut. Jack felt his hair rise again and he turned around in his shop to see a figure standing at the doorway.

-"Fuck!" He shouted before blinking twice and seeing nobody. Jack looked around frantically and saw nobody. 

_Get a hold of yourself, jack. Jesus._

Sean sat back down and continued working on the flowers when he thought he heard a creak. Jack whipped his head around to search for the cause of it, but he saw nothing. Jack suspiciously looked around from what he could see of his shop and saw nothing threatening. Jack picked up the shears to behind snipping away at the leaves when he thought a pair of arms grabbed him and pulled him back. The shears were suddenly against his throat.

-"Don't scream, Jackaboy." Mark's dark voice taunted with a chuckle echoing. 

Jack realized he put the shears against his own throat and he turned around to see nobody in the closet with him.

_I'm not crazy. I can't be crazy._

Jack thought he heard another creak.

_I'm not crazy. I can't be crazy._

Another dark chuckle echoing through his mind as Jack placed is hands over his ears in fear. He rocked himself to ignore the chuckling that echoed mercilessly in his head.

-"N-no. N-no please stop."

_I'm not crazy. I can't be crazy._

-"Stop, stop STOP!" Jack shouted to himself as he felt tear drawing out of his eyes.

_Or can I?_

Jack screamed a blood curdling cry as he closed in on himself on the closet floor. His clattered rhythmically on the floor as Jack repeating himself.

-"I'm not crazy! I'm not crazy! I'm not crazy! I'M NOT CRAZY!"

He felt his heart beating all too quickly. He felt boxes. Then he felt a pair of arms. He saw a twisted smile on a handsome man. He saw concerned blue eyes. Sean felt his mind slipping. His heart skipping. His eyes searching frantically. The toaster ringed again. And again, and again, and again. 

_Tink, tink, tink, tink, tink, tink._

_I'm not crazy! I can't be crazy!_

_Tink, tink, tink, tink._

-"GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE." Jack thought he heard someone shout.

His fingernail had tapped his coffee mug incessantly.

Then Jack lost consciousness and felt himself fall into a deep sleep.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you understood this entire chapter, CONGRATULATIONS!  
> If you didn't, ask for clarification in the comments xP


	5. Chocolate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sarah and Ethan's concerns grow,  
> meanwhile a storm approaches.
> 
> **TRIGGER WARNING**  
> Vivid Panic Attack

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm BAAAAACCKKKK  
> Again.  
> This is just a filler. Sorry, it just had a few plot points that need to be done before the drama next chapter.

If anything, Jack feels like he should pay his assistant more for being so smart.

Hell, if anything, Jack should be teaching  _her_ on the reality of PTSD and its consequences. Not the other way around.

However, here he lay with a sixteen year old preaching to him the wise words of Wikipedia and research done by doctors at the Mayo clinic.

-"Jack. Jack, pay attention." Sarah asked for the third time, snapping her fingers inches from his nose. 

The Irishman swatted away at her hand, weakly, as he focused his eyes back on the teenager.

-"Yeah yeah, i'm listenin'." Jack mumbled.

-"uh-huh. Sure. Anyways, don't forget to take only two of the green pills before you go to bed until they start making you feel exhausted in the mornings. Once that happens, you got to get rid of them unless you have trouble sleeping." She adds, reading off her phone.

-"Got it." Sean mumbled as he stared out the window. He saw Mark walking out of his shop with flowers in hand as he crossed the street. This time, he looked both ways. "Could ye ask 'em what he wants before he walks in?" he asked.

Sarah spun around to see what her boss was talking about in which she walked to the door and opened it before Mark could.

-"I need to see him." The red-haired man pleaded.

-"No you don't." Sarah insisted. 

-"Fine, just give him these." Mark muttered as he left her with the flowers and walked walk across the street.

She returned and shook the flowers slightly so that Jack would notice the gift. After placing the flowers on the counter, she returned to the couch where Jack lay to finish her long list of notes.

Droning on and on about precautions Jack had already heard before leaving the hospital, his mind wandered to the events that lead after his mental breakdown. 

He remembered being shook and smacked. There were definitely two people there. Jack passed out after that. What was one of them shouting? He definitely remembers someone shouting. And soft blue eyes. Or were they brown? Or green? He was hazy on the details.

-"Okay, I have to go home and do my project." Sarah announced as she stood up and took off her work apron, fetched her bag and jacket and was leaving the shop when she stopped in her tracks. 

-"Flip the sign on your way out." Jack mumbled as he closed his eyes to rest.

-"Hey, jack..." she asked, her voice shy. The man cracked one eye open to look at her staring at him in concern. "Uh.. I know it shouldn't be any of my business but... like, I get that things like this tend to happen after a traumatic event and I was wondering... what--"

-"What traumatic event triggered me to have PTSD?" He finished for Sarah. The teenager nodded her head. "It was--"

-"Don't say the mugging, Jack. I know it wasn't because you were mugged. That happened long before and you had your episode a couple days ago." She continued. The Irishman closed his mouth in the middle of a word and he sighed. 

-"I almost died," Jack began. "I wasn't mugged, but I sure as hell did almost die getting the shit beat outta me."

_I can't be crazy_

-"Who was it?" Sarah asked with worry.

Jack squeezed his eyes shut, not sure if he should tell the truth to her or not.

-"I can't remember."

 _I wish I couldn't remember,_ he thought to himself.

-"Liar." She replied, "if you don't want to tell me who it is, that's fine but just answer me this: have you talked or met this person before?"

Jack nodded his head. She sighed. 

-"Don't let me find out who it is," she added. He looked at her curiously before she replied as she left the shop with "or else my clique and I will probably kick their ass."

* * *

 

-"No, sir, we won't be able to give more than four loaves of bed per customer for the rest of the week." Ashley repeated.

-"Well why in the hell not?" a burly man demanded.

Jack was looking for bandages and alcohol in the sea of boxes labeled  ** _First-Aid Kit Supplies_** next to the register. 

-"Sir, like I said before, there's a storm coming and we have to give out food to any homeless before and after the storm, therefore, we have a limit of loaves of bread we're allowed to give out."

-"But you've done it before!" The man said. Ashley sighed.

-"There's a storm coming. Just, take four loaves of bread and come back for another four tomorrow." Ashley settled. The man huffed in annoyance and paid. The woman draped her body across the counter in exhaustion when the man left. This caused Jack to laugh at her distress.

-"Rough day at work, huh?" Jack asked as he laid his necessities on the counter next to her head. She groaned in reply.

-"Jack, you should be at home. I told you that i'd get the things for the first-aid kit when I leave work." Ethan scolded as he walked in from the back. Jack rolled his eyes.

-"I'm not a child, Ethan, don't pester me like one."

-"Yes, you aren't a child. You should know better than this." Ethan replied.

The woman between them groaned once more before rising her head and staring at Jack with sleep in her eyes.

-"I'd kill to go home right now. I could barely get any sleep since my stupid roommate was practically reenacting the 'Fifty Shades of Grey' trilogy in her bedroom all night." 

The two men winced at the idea and she dropped her head onto the counter with a loud thunk. 

-"Do you want me to close up tonight?" Ethan asked.

She nodded her head silently and Ethan chuckled, patting her back.

The blue-haired man checked out Jack's things with annoyance before Jack returned to his shop to lay on the couch and listen to music. He had two orders that day and he was already tired from the sleeping pills and tranquilizers he had in his system all day. 

Walking down the sidewalk, he saw that Mark was sitting at the door to the flower shop with flowers in hand.

-"Mark... what're ye doin'." Jack asked as he approached. The other man rose and he brushed off his backside with one hand, holding the flowers in the other.

-"I-i wanted to apologize. Y'know, from what happened a couple weeks ago--"

-"I get that. In fact, I completely understood that when you flooded my shop with hyacinths while I was gone." Jack replied, annoyed.

-"Wait what?" Mark asked, eyebrows scrunched in confusion.

-"Mark... how could you forget when you filled my entire shop with purple hyacinths." jack asked, staring at him in disbelief. Mark shook his head.

-"Jack I left a a small bouquet of flowers on your car. I never set foot in your shop."

The Irishman stared at the American in confusion. Jack didn't understand how this seemed possible. Ethan was always ditching his lunch breaks to check on Jack after the attack, Ashley and Felix don't even know how to get in Jack's shop, Sarah got the keys after he started working again and Mark claims he never entered.

So who  _did_ break in?

-"w-what do you mean. N-no. It had to be you." Jack mumbled. Mark's eyebrows knelt together in suspicion.

-"I can promise you that I have never set foot in your shop without your permission." Mark replied.

_He's lying. He's trying to get into your head and he's going to beat you to nothing next time._

-"S-shut up.." jack mumbled as he dropped his bag of supplies.

-"Jack... i'm serious.." 

_He's lying. He wants to hold you. He wants to hold you back. He's going after your family next..._

-"I-i'm not c-crazy.." jack whimpered as he held himself, shivers slithering across his body.

-"What?"

_He's going to wreck you, Jackaboy. He'll get you. Time and time again._

_"S-shut up!"

-"Jack, are you alright?"

_It's your karma, Jackaboy. Remember what you did with Signe?_

-"SHUT UP!" 

Jack shook violently and closed in on himself. Mark was kneeling next to him and whispering careful and helpful words. The Irishman couldn't hear them. He was losing it. He felt claustrophobic. He was scared of the cold. He was scared of Mark. He was scared of himself. He couldn't breathe.

Suddenly, Mark was counting his fingers in front of Jack. His eyesight focusing and becoming blurry altogether once more. His eyesight bounced around like his heart. He couldn't breathe. He felt like his throat was being crushed but with no force. He needed to breathe. His eyes watered and his chest rose painfully for air.

-"--at's it. that's it. C'mon Jack, count with me--" his voice seemed distant. His ears were ringing. "--come on, Jack. Breathe. one, two three. C'mon. count with me!"

-"one.. t-two... th-th-three.." Jack wheezed slowly. He felt his lungs filling more and more. His ears rang incessantly and his chest felt relieved of all pain. His head seemed to throb and his eyesight focused on nothing but warm, brown eyes

Soft, like chocolate. The swirls of chocolate Sean's mother used to make in the big aluminum pot. Early in the mornings where she'd stir with a slow and constant rhythm. Jack's eyes would swirl with the small foam circling behind the large wooden spoon. 

-"Don't get too close, Sean! You'll burn yourself!" His mother would scold.

The same brown eyes stared at him. His bright red hair fit his complexion perfectly. Jack fully realized that Mark was extremely attractive. His scruff seemed to be trimmed neatly and his eyebrows were pinched in concern and determination. 

-"-- are you alright, Jack?"

Jack blinked multiple times before fully broadening his view and seeing he could breathe normally. His head throbbed with a massive migraine but he felt fine.

-"T-thank you.." Jack mumbled. Mark nodded his head. 

-"You scared me..." Mark replied quietly as they rose and he handed Jack his bag from the drug store. Jack nodded his head.

The two men shared a silent moment together before Mark cast his eyes down sadly and picked up the flowers he had and placed them inside Jack's bag. He gave Jack a small nod before he crossed the street, looking both ways, and making it safely to his parlor.

Jack was frozen in place and he spurred back into life when he heard a noise behind him. He turned around and looked into the alley where his car rested.

-"Uh... is somebody there?" Jack called out. He couldn't see much since it had gotten darker. Clouds seemed to have crept into the pale yellow sky. It was late evening and Jack saw a distinct shadow in the alley. They sprinted out and began making their way to him.

Jack began scuffling and running toward his shop where he opened the door quickly and closed it behind him. He threw the bag carelessly somewhere in the general direction of his couch and he spun around to lock the door. He looked out the large glass walls that made up the front of his shop. A man suddenly slammed himself against the glass. Jack jumped and yelped in fright. He stood back away from his door.

-"Oh Jackaboy!" he taunted, "I'm coming for you! Nobody gets to have my pet.  _NOBODY!_ " He shouted wildly. His eyes were blown wide and his face twitched psychotically. He pushed himself away from the glass and stared at Jack darkly. He walked down the sidewalk and left his sight.

Jack was staring at where the man just was and the obliqueness of his shop from the cloud's ever growing gloom didn't make his mood any better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Realizing that re-reading the chapter will only make me sadder.
> 
> #Submit


	6. A Deadly Game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the storm approaching quicker than anybody expected, Mark, Jack, and Ethan face a long night ahead of them under unfortunate circumstances.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter went to a whole other direction BUT I hope you guys/gals like it so... ye

All the people in town are speaking about the storm that's quickly approaching. Just last week they said it would arrive in two weeks, then they said it would arrive in one week. And today, they announced that it would arrive from the next hour to the next three days. If anything, Jack and Ethan were not prepared.

They had stockpiled on food and blankets. They invited Ashley and Sarah if either had to last minute get out of the storm. It seemed that Felix was not taking it seriously at all and announced he would be throwing an "End of the World Fiesta" at his house.

Jack found himself writing notes to Mark. Mark wrote how he wasn't worried about the storm considering they have had floods back in Ohio. Jack was surprised that he actually new nothing about Mark's past at all. They sent each other notes, small talk about their childhoods before Mark changed the subject. Jack never persisted on it.

Ethan agreed to work the nights of the following week as long as he got payed extra, which Felix contemplated an entire week to decide, which meant he was likely to be stuck in the drug store if the storm hit during the evenings. There were small showers of rain ever so often, although it's being considered to be probably one of the biggest storms of the year.

-"Hell, if we're lucky we could get ourselves some goddamn snow on a good day." An old lady grumbled as Jack helped carry her vase of flowers to her car one morning. "But no! It just had to be a friggin' storm and now my kids insist on leaving my grandchildren with me."

-"Well don't you enjoy your grandchildren?" He asked as he set the vase in the passenger seat.

-"Well of course!" the elderly woman replied, "but if the house floods, i am saving myself. I've got Bingo games to win!"

Day's seemed to get less busy as people seemed to bring their attention to actual necessities than flowers. Mark seemed to be booming across Winter Grove Street as more and more teenagers flaunted and stared at the tattoo artist work his magic. He even had some daring kids ask for flowers to hand him. Which shouldn't have disturbed the Irishman as much as it did.

_**It's hilarious, really. I've got an entire vase filled with so many different shades of roses. I wonder who could be supplying them all these colorful flowers.** _ Mark had written that morning. Jack laughed at the note and he quickly replied, sending it back to some poor teenager who seemed to be getting flowers for her friend's sake instead of herself.

-"Why do you keep sending these small Freshmen across the street?" Sarah asked as she wrapped another bouquet of flowers in plastic underneath its vase. "What if they get hit by a car?"

-"i warn them to look both ways before crossing."

-"Like that'll do any good." she scoffed.

-"I don't like your tone, young lady." mimicking a scorning mother's voice.

-"Okay 'Mr. Grass For Hair' " Sarah replied sternly. Jack laughed at that and she smiled proudly at making the older man laugh.

* * *

Later that evening, Jack had sent Sarah home early since they finished in due time. Jack lay on the couch watching YouTube videos when he heard a knock at the door. He looked up to see nobody standing there. The clouds were getting darker and darker as the days went. Jack stood up and walked slowly toward the door where he saw purple hyacinths on the doorstep. Jack stumbled backwards slowly in fear. He looked around without moving to realize nobody was near. He didn't dare unlock the door.  


Jack slowly turned around to look for a weapon and he searched to find a pair of flower cutters. As he spun around to hold them defensively, he saw a note was suddenly on the glass door. Jack slowly approached to read the note:

**Your assistant shouldn't walk alone, it's dangerous**

Jack felt hairs rise and he sprinted for his phone immediately. He searched for Sarah's contact and called it.

It rang once.

Then twice.

On the third ring, she answered.

-" _Oh my god, if you set the shop on fire I am not going back to save your skinny ass_ " she groaned over the phone.

-"Are you alright? Is somebody following you? If they are, just stay still or run into the street or something."

-" _Umm... no. Noboy's following me. Why? What's wrong?_ "

Jack let out a breath and felt relief soar through his body. 

-"Oh thank god. I just got some creepy note on my door and--" he explained before he looked back at the door to see the man there once more. He tilted his head darkly and he smiled wickedly.

He slammed his hand onto the glass and slowly dragged it back down, leaving a red stain. He laughed and Jack dropped his phone in shock.

-"Let me in! I just want to play, Jackaboy!"

-" _Jack? Jack what's wrong? Jack you're worrying me._ "

jack picked up the phone and he spoke into it.

-"S-somebody's at the shop. A-and they have blood on the glass a-and he's scaring the shit outta me."

-" _Jack? Jack I'm--- losi-- ou-- Jack?_ "

-"Get home safely! See you tomorrow!" Jack exclaimed quickly before hanging up and staring at the man in fear.

-"Who do I need to threaten to get to you? Your pretty little assistant? or the blue-haired fellow that works at the drug store?"

Jack's heart dropped. He was following him. No,  _stalking him._

-"Ah... so it's one of those two. Well. toodle-loo!" he exclaimed as he sprinted up the sidewalk toward the drug store.

-"NO!" Jack shouted as he grabbed a jacket and phone. He sprinted out his door, locking it behind him and running up the sidewalk to be pulled into the alleyway.

-"Jack, jack, jack. I knew you were too easy to get." He whispered as he held a knife to Jack's throat.

-"L-leave me alone." Jack whimpered.

-"No. I love playing games." He muttered darkly as he swiped the knife and Jack felt a small sting in his throat. He was pushed onto the sidewalk. Jack turned around to see him but he had vanished. He had sprinted away.

* * *

 Jack threw open the door of the drug store, bell jingling as he looked frantically to find Ethan wiping the counter. He seemed too busy to hear the bell.

-"E-eth?" Jack called out as he shook where he stood. Ethan turned in surprise, read to greet him when he realized his state of distress. Jack's eyes were puffy and his throat had a small smear of red.

-"Jack? What's wrong?" Ethan asked as he walked around slowly, careful not to startle him. "Are you alright?"

-"S-someone's been following me. A-and they threatened me a-and then the hyacinths and f-flowers" Jack stuttered frantically, his breath shaking every so often as tears begin to fall. "T-they're taunting m-me and I w-was hoping you were ok-k-kay.." 

-"What? Who? Jack, tell me wha--"

-" _I don't know!"_ Jack shouted as he held his head between his hands. Nobody else was in the drug store but Jack felt like he was frightening Ethan, if only slightly.

-"When did this happen?" Ethan asked/

-"I-i don't kn-know but I was writing and-- oh god.." Jack said before coming to a frightening realization, "Mark."

-"Mark did this?" Ethan asked, his eyebrows furrowed and his fist clenched. 

-"W-what?" Jack asked before he felt Ethan push past him and run out of the drug store. 

Jack followed Ethan out as he walked speedily down the sidewalk.

-"I knew that sonofabitch would hurt you." Ethan muttered as he crossed the street haphazardly. 

Upon arriving there, Ethan knocked on the glass door twice before letting himself in with a rage trailing behind him. Jack followed him carefully and entered the shop.

-"Mark!" Ethan shouted angrily. The lights were turned off and there was a dull glow from the gray clouds looming outside, but Mark appeared out of a doorway on the far end of the small shop.

-"Oh... it's  _you_ " Mark mumbled as he saw who had entered. 

-"Damn right it's me," Ethan muttered, "now stop hiding you fucking coward." Ethan snapped.

Jack had never seen Ethan so angry. The usual happy and bubbly attitude had boiled down to pure bitterness.

-"Unless you want a tattoo, i'd suggest there's nothing for you here." Mark said simply before turning around to go through the door once more.

-"Unless you're done drinking, I'd suggest there's no reason behind torturing Jack like that." 

Mark spun around with furrowed eyebrows, his confusion suddenly apparent at Ethan's words.

-"Ethan, it isn't Mark--"

-"Shut up, Jack." Ethan snapped. 

Mark marched forward and grabbed a handful of Ethan's shirt in his burly hand and looked down at Ethan angrily. The blue-haired man looked at him without a fear in his eye and he kept a tall posture.

-"Don't speak to him like that." Mark muttered.

-"Mark, stop! Guys, t-this isn't helping!" Jack pleaded.

-"You're not helping either Jack. Just be quiet." Mark mumbled as he kept his stare with Ethan.

Jack was taken aback by this, his fear slowly becoming anger.

-"What is the matter with you two? You two keep barking at each other like cats and dogs!"

-"Mark seems to bring his alcohol and his trouble with him everywhere he goes." Ethan muttered before he was shoved backwards. 

-"Get the hell out of my parlor, Ethan." Mark snapped.

Ethan stood up and began to charge at him as Jack shouted, "Ethan, stop!" 

Mark caught his arm and Jack had to run between them to try and spit them up.

-"Stop fighting! This isn't helping anybody! I'm getting fucking tired of it--"

Jack couldn't remember who swung first, but a fist connected against his jaw and had him falling to the ground. He stared at the ground in confusion before he shakily stood up on his legs and looked at both men staring at him wide-eyed.

-"Jack--" but he was gone.

Jack sprinted outside the door and found himself on the sidewalk. It had begun to rain during the confrontation and Jack felt his hair getting wet. He began to cross the street carelessly when he heard one of them shout behind him. Stopping in the middle of the road, Jack turned around and looked at them stare at him.

-"Don't! Just don't follow me!" Jack shouted, "either of you!"

-"Jack get out of the rain!" Mark shouted. 

The rain seemed to pour harder and faster, Jack stared them down as he didn't move and Ethan began to walk forward.

-"Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hit you, Jack. Just please get out of the street and we can... we can talk it out." Ethan said as Jack backed away.

-"No." Jack replied "you two, will talk it out." 

A pair of headlights turned on farther up the street as a man entered his car, a devious smirk across his face as he began to go faster.

-"Guys..." Mark warned as he followed Ethan. All three men were in the middle of the street while rain beat harshly down on them.

-"Shut up, Mark! Both of you shut up! Shut up! shut up!  _SHUT UP!_ " Jack shouted as he stomped the ground like a child. Mark grabbed Ethan's arm as he pulled him backward, hurling him backwards and almost toppling onto the curb.

-"Jack, there's a car coming!" Mark shouted as the car seemed to grow speed as it came towards them. Jack looked at the lights that were growing nearer and Jack felt a dreadful feeling at realizing the situation they were in.

The rain had completely soaked his head and shoulders. His head began to hurt from the immense pounding of rain and Jack made a split second decision as Mark stared at the headlights in utter terror. Jack stumbled forward as he ran forward and pushed Mark as hard as he could toward the sidewalk where Ethan was standing.

-"Jack, wait--!" Mark shouted as he was propelled backwards by the Irishman.

It was a foolish decision, but Jack felt relief seeing Mark fall into Ethan's arms.

Then he felt the sudden collision between himself and metal as he slammed against the car's windshield, possibly breaking it, and rolling over the car as he flew into the air. The rain and the loss of gravity left Jack speechless before he felt his entire body suddenly meet wet asphalt and his head slam painfully into the ground. The last memory he held onto was Mark and Ethan shouting as they sprinted forward to reach him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By golly gosh darn, look at the mess I've made ;-;


	7. Who Needs Confession When You Have Depression

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Unfortunate truths come to light as Ethan, Mark, and Jack make it through the storm.

-"To be fair..." Ethan mumbled, "this was all your fault."

-"It's both of our faults, Ethan." Mark replied as he leaned back in his chair and looked at the sleeping man. He scooted closer to feel for his pulse.

Mark's cold fingers pressed into his neck, searching for his artery before finally resting upon the faint thrum of his bloodstream. The rain pattered heavily on the roof of the building they were in. Sean could hear the steady breathing coming from the other man. His fingers stopped pressing down, though they lingered as they trailed away from his neck. 

_This is your karma, Jackaboy_

-"Oh Jesus.."

-"He's not dead." Mark clarified as he stood up from his chair next to him. 

-"I swear to God, if he dies--"

-"It's on both of us." Mark repeated firmly. A silence stretched on. It crawled into their throats and rest there. Jack opened his eyes slowly to adjust to the lighting coming from the pale ceiling.

-"He's awake."

Mark went out of Jack's sight and a door softly clicked as his footsteps faded. Then Ethan's own footsteps shuffled and his face came into view. Jack tried to turn his head and realized he was laying on something similar to an air mattress. Ethan moved closer to Jack to keep him from sitting up.

-"Don't. You could hurt your spine-"

-"i deserve this." Jack said as he froze his movements and stared at the ceiling.

-"What? No... no you don't--" Jack's chuckle interrupted Ethan's words. His chuckle echoed through the small room. 

Ethan asked what was so funny when Jack replied, "All of this. What I did... has come back to me in the most ironic of ways.." 

Ethan sat on Mark's chair and looked at Jack confusedly as his chuckle began to crack into a sob.

-"It was merely.. a year ago. I just wanted to go and watch a movie. At the local theatre. I-i was driving down the same road I would always drive on to get into town. The same secluded ass road. A-and she came out of nowhere.." Jack said, voice cracking as tears began to slip from his eyes, "Sh-she used to be my neighbor. I hadn't seen her in years. I figured she had gone off t-to go explore the world like she'd always wanted... a-and then she just-" 

Jack's words broke into ugly sobs as he lay there on the dirty mattress. Ethan had placed a hand on his shoulder softly to show comfort. Mark walked in with a rag and a bucket to see Ethan patting him lightly.

-"What happened?" 

-"I deserved this" jack sobbed as he sobbed even harder. Mark slowly approached the two and left the bucket and rag next to the mattress.

-"Jack... nobody deserves this.." mark whispered, "if anything I should be the one on that mattress, not you."

Ethan looked at Mark with a soft expression, he avoided his stare.

-"No, mark, I deserve this. I do, I really do--"

-"I've hurt... people.." Mark whispered, "I hurt Ethan.."

-"That's an understatement." Ethan added. 

-"I hurt Ethan," Mark continued, "and he has every right to be angry with me. Furious, even. And it's my fault because I let him get too close and I... I ruined everything-"

Mark's broody and tough exterior seemed to collapse at that moment. A tear tread across his cheek silently as he looked at Ethan apologetically.

-"You beat me half to death. Just like Jack. Except, unlike him, I had nobody to turn to. Nobody to take me in. Nobody to shake me awake from my nightmares. I gave up everything for you and i was alone. I was broken. I had  _nothing._ " Ethan snapped as he stood and looked at Mark in the eyes, "I still have  _scars_ from what happened that night-"

-"You think I don't?!" Mark exclaimed, "Do you realize that I have to live with this? I have to live with the fact that I have hurt the few people that i've cared about?! I have nightmares! I wish I could take it all back! I wish you hadn't stopped me from shooting my--"

Mark stopped his sentence as his voice broke and felt his walls crash down. He let out a cry momentarily before he looked at Ethan's bewildered expression.

-"You what?"

The room grew with tension. Jack tried to sit up, pain coursing through his body in immense waves.

-"That night... that you called... I-I gave up. I gave up on everything and then... you called..." Mark whispered. Ethan looked at him helplessly.

-"Mark I never knew--"

-"I wish I hadn't fallen in love with you." Mark said as they stared each other in the eyes. 

Ethan raised a hand to cover his mouth as he gaped at his words. Ethan had never known it had gotten to that point. Mark left the room once more and shouted helplessly into the rest of the tattoo parlor. His screams echoed through the walls until they turned into broken sobs.

As Ethan stood there in shock, it all seemed to click for Jack.

-"He hurt you too... didn't he?"

Ethan nodded his head quietly.

-"Mark's an alcoholic... isn't he..." Jack asked.

Another nod.

-"Mark's... in love with me... isn't he?"

Ethan didn't nod this time but looked at Jack with the saddest of faces.

-"He used to love me... and I left him in a worse state than me..." Ethan said as he sat down. Jack stared at Ethan before he sighed.

-"Where does this leave us now?"

The two sat in silence as Mark's cries grew silent and all that was left to fill the silence was the hum from the light hanging above them and the sounds of heavy raindrops crashing into the roof. The sounds of tinkering filled most of the void, but the few spaces left were eating them alive. Jack sat there, the pain in his back slowly growing lighter and Ethan with his head between his hands as they rested on his knees. The door slowly opened and Mark entered before he quietly sat down and laid his back against the mattress.

The rain grew and the sounds of buildings and rooftops creaking gave them no concern. The room grew cold as the minutes passed by. Jack laid back down and Mark was the first to snore. The harsh sounds of his breath added to the sounds of rain. Ethan slipped off the chair and gave himself a similar position to the tattoo artist's before he fell asleep next. Their snores and breathing made a cacophony with the rain's own choir of voices.

Jack stared at the pale ceiling and closed his eyes to rest. But he couldn't.

He imagined Ethan and Mark walking down the street together, holding hands and eating ice cream on a sunny day with a dog. A happy couple. An ideal couple. Then he imagined himself with Mark, lazying around the parlor as Mark finished with another adolescent customer before they'd leave together and go to Jack's shared apartment where the three of them would eat a friendly dinner and talk and laugh and enjoy their lives.

Jack imagined these alternate realities.

Jack imagined still being in Ireland and getting to talk with Signe over coffee about her adventures going all over the world. They'd be happy as neighbors and go and see a movie every once in a while or maybe even travel somewhere else.

Jack imagined. He imagined the craziest of scenarios and the best of them too.

He imagined, and he imagined, until he too fell asleep with the sound of men's soft snores and incessant rain patter. 

* * *

 

Upon opening his eyes, Jack realized that the rain was still beating against the rooftop, but with a duller pattern. There weren't any snores and the lights where off. It was the same pale ceiling but with a duller shade from the missing source of bright light. Jack looked to his right to see Ethan and Mark were no longer laying against the mattress. They weren't their at all, as a matter of fact.

Jack rose slowly and his back still hurt. He swung his feet and tried to stand up, sudden blooms of pain spread from his thighs to his neck all across his body. He held himself against the wall before he made his way to the the door that was slightly ajar. Opening it fully and looking toward the rest of the tattoo parlor, he felt something was different.

At first glance, it was the same parlor with the same paintings and the same decor. But it felt... different. Jack felt his hand was slightly sticky and he examined it with the dull gray from the clouds that poured in from the windows across the shop that it was a dark color. Jack smelled it and was hit by the familiar scent of iron. He looked at himself to see he wasn't bleeding, but there was a smear against the door. 

Jack scanned the shop frantically and he limp-walked around until he peered over the counter to see Ethan on the ground, leaning against the counter as he seemed asleep, bloody smears across his shirt and face, cuts and tears in his shirt and jeans.

Jack knelt down and shook him.

-"Ethan. Ethan? Ethan, please wake up." Jack pleaded before he smacked him across the face audibly and he awoke.

-"Mark!" He shouted as he looked around and came to rest his frightened eyes on Jack.

-"J-jack?! Where's Mark! Where's the man?!" He exclaimed as he stood up and searched the shop frantically. Jack was getting scared now.

-"What man? What happened?" Jack asked.

-"A-a man broke in or something a-and he started to attack Mark and I tried to help a-and there was a razor blade a-and--"

Ethan stopped in his tracks and pointed at the counter's side. Jack followed his finger to stare in horror at the bloody words left on the wide counter. It was an address that didn't seem familiar to the town. Ethan pulled out his phone and tried pinpointing it.

-"Where does it lead to?" Jack asked, his fears growing.

-"T-to some abandoned city a couple miles away." Ethan replied. They began heading out of the parlor when they say a bouquet of black roses covered in plastic at the doorstep. 

There was a wet card attached to the bouquet that Ethan picked up and opened it to see two words:

**_YOUR MOVE_ ** _**;)**_ ****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WEEELLLLPPPP

**Author's Note:**

> Might turn this into a series, i'm not sure. You guys can decide tho! Hit that kudos button if you enjoyed it!


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